Please fix ‘un-drivable’ Pearl Point Road

The “un-drivable” Pearl Point Road, near Bemm River, needs repairing urgently, according to Gippsland East Nationals MP Tim Bull, who urged the Environment Minister to take action in State Parliament.

“Pearl Point is a very picturesque and beautiful location, but the problem at the moment is that the corrugations in that road are so deep it is basically un-drivable for a regular family car, and indeed even four-wheel drive owners are not using that road,” Mr Bull told the chamber.

“I ask the Minister to not only get a grader out there and grade it prior to the summer period, but also put in place a regular works schedule so that it is kept up to standard. It is a popular tourist location and it ought to be looked after,” he said.

Mr Bull has received representations from the Bemm River Progress and Improvement Association, which provides a rubbish collection service and delivers water to those who camp at Pearl Point.

“Over the years this community has advocated very strongly when the road is in poor condition to have it graded, but it seems to be an ongoing battle for them,” Mr Bull said.

“There is also a whale watching platform there, which has proven extremely popular. The problem is you cannot get there at the moment because the road is inaccessible.

“The other element of Pearl Point Road of course is it is a very important fire access track.

“We are heading into summer and it has been extremely dry in East Gippsland with the drought conditions that our farmers are facing.

“But we are on the verge of a fire season that is extremely concerning and has the potential to be catastrophic if the circumstances and conditions come about that we all fear.

“Our fire services need access to Pearl Point and along that stretch of coastline via this road, so from a tourist perspective and also a fire safety perspective, we encourage the Minister to get a grader out there in the next week or two, and make sure we have a plan in place so this road is maintained on a regular basis,” he said.

The Minister is required to respond within 30 days, but Mr Bull is hopeful it will be addressed before then.

Caption: Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, asks the Environment Minister to urgently fix Pearl Point Road in State Parliament this week.

Bairnsdale trains can’t stop at Clayton

Gippsland Nationals MPs have called on the Andrews Labor Government to rule out any plans to terminate Gippsland trains at Clayton or Pakenham under its proposed new suburban rail loop.

The Labor Party outlined a pre-election promise last week that would establish a suburban rail loop ring around Melbourne and trumpeted that it would include “regional super-hubs”, including one at Clayton for Gippsland trains.

In State Parliament today, The Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O’Brien, called on the Andrews Labor Government to guarantee that this won’t mean future Gippsland trains will terminate at Clayton, or even worse, Pakenham. His views were echoed by The Nationals Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull.

Mr Bull said Labor needed to be unequivocal that Bairnsdale line trains will continue all the way to Southern Cross.

“It alarms me that Daniel Andrews is talking up these ‘super-hubs’. Labor needs to rule out immediately any plan to terminate Gippsland trains at the junction of the proposed new suburban loop,” he said.

Mr Bull said The Nationals had also committed $633 million to build new long-haul VLocity trains to service the Bairnsdale line.

“The poor state of the old rolling stock is a regular complaint that I get. We will replace the old diesels with new, modern, fast and comfortable trains.”

Mr O’Brien said the Liberals and Nationals would refer the idea for an outer suburban loop from Frankston to Werribee to Infrastructure Victoria to see if it stacks up.

“Let’s see what the independent infrastructure adviser thinks. The Nationals are focussed on fixing the Gippsland line and have committed $8 million to a business case to look at options for a dedicated track for Gippsland trains through the suburbs to fix the major cause of delays for our trains.

“Gippslanders are angry that Labor is pushing this $50 billion plus project without spending a cent to address congestion through the suburbs that makes the Gippsland line the worst performing in the state for punctuality,” Mr O’Brien said.

“But they will be incensed if Labor also plans to terminate Gippsland trains at Clayton as part of these plans. A number of people have already raised this concern with me.”

“The Government has form on this issue, with a report in 2016 recommending Gippslanders get off at Pakenham and be forced onto Metro services. The idea was dropped after a backlash from Gippslanders. The transport bureaucracy also raised the idea some years earlier but it was immediately quashed by The Nationals in government.”